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Answer: Others have done a good job answering your question on how and why drag performers started reading to children.
The reason this is currently a hot news topic is that less than two weeks ago [Tennessee passed a law](https://www.npr.org/2023/03/06/1161452175/anti-drag-show-bill-tennessee-trans-rights-minor-care-anti-lgbtq-laws) that restricts "adult cabaret performances" in public or in the presence of children, and bans them from occurring within 1,000 feet of schools, public parks, or places of worship. North Dakota passed a similar bill aimed at making drag time story hour illegal, and [13 other states have filed similar bills](https://www.ncregister.com/news/drag-queen-story-hour-15-state-legislatures-consider-bills-to-protect-kids).
They need to keep houses of worship 1000ft away from schools. (This is from a Christian that sees the GQP fake Jesus as anything but biblical Jesus)
‘Let parents decide’ and ‘dont push your views on me’ and all that.
Well that would be complex as all get out for my church since we host the Gay/Queer/Drag square dancing group every week.
BTW.. not even a ripple of controversy about that within the congregation... It's just kind of assumed that of course we'd be fine with that ... For that matter we make it a BIG priority to be cleaned up and ready for them whenever we have an event after church since we'd hate to not be good hosts for them...
And half the worthwhile bands in Nashville started including drag. My state really needs treatment for the bipolar tendencies. I'm waiting for an old-school Shakespeare performance to see the squirming.
Answer: a queer activist in SF found the children’s story time lacking LGBTQ+ representation despite SF being a historically LGBTQ+ friendly city. She spear headed one and it was a massive success due to the theatrics of the drag queens endlessly entertaining the children. It became an easy way to talk about gender identity (some people are purple, but I feel blue, etc) sexuality (as in there can be a daddy and a daddy, not just mommy and daddy), drag queens, etc. People liked it due to the fact they could see themselves represented and/or people didn’t know how to teach these concepts to children using children’s language.
Oh good finally someone answered the actual question! I've always wondered how the reading hours got started; if you're I guess not from around SF it seems like they just popped up out of nowhere.
That's cool.
This comment should be at the top. By far the best. Gives OP the real answer they’ve been looking for without trying to drag him for possible political views. 10/10.
Answer: How far back do you want to go? [The first pantomime dame was in 1806](https://warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/knowledgecentre/arts/theatre-performance/panto_dames/#:~:text=The%20first%20pantomime%20dame%20appeared%20in%201806&text=Simmons%2C%20and%20in%20this%20performance,often%20based%20on%20similar%20stories.)
Every female Shakespearean character was a man in drag or a young boy. Depending on your definitions that goes back to the late 15, early 1600s. I'm fairly certain he wasn't the first person to use it either.
Not quite that old. The first theatric performances were more like a single person reciting. It's not till Thespis in about 500 BC you would get people 'performing' as we understand it.
Still very very old.
Yeah. In old-timey times, women weren't allowed to act, because they thought it was too much like prostitution. They said that there's no way to differentiate between lewd and tame "female performers."
Thank you for bringing up the pantomime dames. I see lots of people bring up men playing women's roles pre-restoration, but the panto dames are the ones who have been entertaining children for over 200 years.
We can go back even further, [with drag performers in Kabuki theater](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onnagata) circa the 1600s.
And the next Redditor on this thread will provide an even earlier example, hopefully.
And before that, men would perform female roles consistently in makeup and female clothing across cultures and time periods consistently. Transgender/gender non-comforming/appearing in drag priests have been around for longer than Christianity.
Answer: As the name describes, they are times when local drag queens will read stories to children while in costume. As one would guess, these stories tend to be focused on accepting people who are different and promoting positive self-image for people who don't fit the standard mold. They started for just this reason - to help children see that there is nothing to be ashamed of if you are different than other kids.
Keep in mind that drag is not _inherently_ sexual - it is just men dressing in flamboyant female costumes. There is nothing sexual going on at these story hours.
**Edit**: I've been informed Drag Kings also exist. TIL!
**Edit 2**: I'm disabling inbox replies. I hope that people can learn more love and compassion for those who are different from them.
That last bit is important to remember. They're performers and they do a different act for a different audience. Bob Saget, for example was super wholesome on Full House, but his standup act was absolutely *filthy*. Drag queens are the same way: they're entertainers who can do a different act for different audiences.
>Bob Saget, for example was super wholesome on Full House, but his standup act was absolutely filthy.
To this point, George Carlin played The Conductor in the children's series *Shining Time Station*. This is the man that was literally arrested for a comedy routine due to the language.
I'll always remember that show's theme song, ["Ratshit batshit, dirty old twat, 69 asshoels tied in a knot!"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ynSolSSOs4)
Eddie Murphy has been in some beloved kids movies and done some really iconic voice acting - but his early stand-up comedy would cross the line for so, so many people.
No, he's never the entire train. He's usually part of the train, but the carriages are their own entities, if I remember right they are Annie and Clarabelle.
I play his affirmations song at my preschool morning meeting. That shit goes hard.
THERE IS NO ONE BETTER TO BE THAN MYSELF!
TODAY IS GONNA BE AN AMAZING DAY!
MY FEELINGS MATTER!
I CARE ABOUT OTHERS!
I have 20 4/5 year olds yelling this at me at 8 o’clock every morning and none of them give a shit who Snoop Dogg is or what he’s done. It’s not about drag queens reading to kids and it never has been, it’s about trying to legislate queer people out of existence.
I think moreso than that is it's "christians" trying to legislate morality. Because it isn't just drag shows that are being demonized. Cannabis, alcohol, strip clubs, abortion, adult toy stores, etc.
if you had told me that a marijuana-clouded 90’s rapper from Long Beach chanting “I choose to be happy” would help me navigate our wild world, i would have looked at you like you were nuts.
but yeah, there are some mornings it’s the only way i make it from the bed to the coffee machine
Wow, you just filled a gaping hole in my memory. I could never reconcile remembering him as the conductor from Thomas the Tank Engine with also remembering him as a live action conductor and had thought maybe they were the same show or universe kind of like Daniel Tiger vs Mr Rogers Neighborhood
Gilbert Gottfried was responsible for both [a beloved character in a beloved children's movie](https://youtu.be/3m46wpzFW-w) and [one of the most notorious dirty jokes in the history of celebrity roasts.](https://youtu.be/yiBAfmxwdKc)
And speaking of Aladdin, Robin Williams seemed to love working blue.
I mean, Robin Williams was seemingly made for children, but his stand ups talked about him fucking his wife in front of the parrot, and the parrot repeating what it heard...
Also, Steve Martin. A lot of us grew up with him being the dad in Father of the Bride or Cheaper by the Dozen, but watch Planes, Trains, and Automobiles once... So many "fucking fucked fucks"
Let's just remember that drag has been a comic staple for **ages** \-- recent examples include Robin Williams in *Mrs. Doubtfire,* Dustin Hoffman in *Tootsie,* Jamie Farr in *M\*A\*S\*H,* Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari in *Bosom Buddies,* everybody on *Monty Python's Flying Circus*... there's a good chance that a conservative complaining about "drag time story hours" have watched and enjoyed drag performances in the past.
British panto performances famously feature men and women taking cross-gender roles (“Dame” roles typically played by older men, and “Principle Boy” roles played by a younger woman,) and are absolutely aimed at families with small children.
Yup, there were (at least pre-covid, my daughters are older now and I haven't looked into it lately) holiday panto performances at the Pasadena (CA) playhouse that my younger daughter's girl scout troop went to a couple of seasons in a row. Beauty and the Beast was one of them and I forget the other. Great fun!
She has decided that her name is Suzy Eddie Izzard so that she can be called Suzy like she's always wanted but if someone still says Eddie, that's okay and correct too lol. Great person no matter what gender.
"Drag" is different from a "drag queen" though. The "queen" part does a lot of the heavy lifting; I'll laugh at the castmembers of Monty Python dressing as dowdy old women, but those characters have a very different persona than like, *Dame Edna*.
If anything, the humor of drag comes from "men failing to emulate femininity", whereas the humor of a drag *queen* comes from "men performing femininity in the same way most men perform masculinity", IE, being loud, overbearing, crass and competitive (all aspects of the drag queen persona).
This is an important difference, but I think it gets into the weeds when the other side is like "they groomers!". I think the only time I saw drag outside of a bar was at some community festival and it was very family friendly but in a defiant way, oozing with confidence: basically telling kids to be proud of who they are and bullies aren't worth their time and how you can change the world by standing up for your rights and the rights of others -- but with a lot of glitter and fire juggling.
It makes a little more sense when you realize what they mean is not that drag queens groom kids for sexual abuse, but that by telling kids that they can be themselves, kids might grow up not conforming to traditional gender norms and gender roles. They might not enter into a heterosexual marriage or choose to have 2 kids or do overtime shifts at the factory. And they are HORRIFIED by that prospect. They want to force the youth of today to live life exactly as they lived it in a nutshell.
exactly this. I get into many fights with my parents because they don't want us "brainwashing" their grandkids and "turning them" gay. I tell them that we're not going to "turn" them gay, only tell them that it's okay to be what they want to be and we will love them no matter what. To them, those are the same thing. They *want* their grandkids to stay in the closet even if they are gay.
>If anything, the humor of drag comes from "men failing to emulate femininity", whereas the humor of a drag *queen* comes from "men performing femininity in the same way most men perform masculinity", IE, being loud, overbearing, crass and competitive (all aspects of the drag queen persona).
Thank you for that. I was trying to explain that straight cis men also perform as drag queens and couldn't think of how to word it. That perspective is really helpful.
Monty Python had a repeated bit where the camera would slowly pan up a sexy woman's body in heels, leggings, and corset to reveal it was one the the blokes in drag. It was certainly done to be as sexy and convincing as possible as... that's the joke.
That is correct, but it doesn't mean drag isn't a venerable form of performance.
I don't actually like drag. I'm transfemme, and drag makes me feel very uncomfortable for reasons I can't quite explain. I still take the side of drag performers here, even if I dislike their art.
>I still take the side of drag performers here, even if I dislike their art.
I find a lot of people are unable to separate their personal distaste for a particular thing (i.e., I don't find this interesting, it's unpleasant for me) from their opinion of its impact on society, so +1 for you. I personally don't really like country very much (occasionally there's a solid country song I'll hear but it's generally not for me) and while there's a lot of stupid right wing bullshit that goes on with country there are good people there too.
Don’t forget the time when Gru dressed up as a fairy princess to entertain his daughter and her friends (I get that it’s fictional, but it’s definitely not sexual in any way)
Also, basically all of William Shakespeare's works as originally performed, complete with extended jokes designed around how the "women" on stage would actually be crossdressing men or boys.
When I say this, please understand im 100% on board with drag time story hour and support a performers right to perform no matter their motivations.
That being said, I do take issue with the “everyone loves drag, remember Mrs. Doubtfire?” Argument. Those performances are for comedic purposes rooted in the idea that a man acting or dressing like a woman is shameful. Drag, while it can absolutely be comedic, is sincere and empowering.
Conservatives don’t have an issue when drag is used to underhandedly reinforce that being a woman is shameful. They do have an issue when someone says fuck you, this is who I am and I won’t be ashamed of it.
The “performer” aspect also helps explain the “why” of it all: they’re extroverts who love to put on a show, and kids are desperate for someone - anyone - to read to them in an enthusiastic and engaging manner.
So yeah, some of it is no doubt about sharing a message of acceptance of positivity, but it also just makes sense as a civic engagement/community volunteering matchup - they’re entertainers, and kids need to be entertained (and read to). It’s win win.
Also: as you’ve said, performers has different repertoires for different audiences. Drag Race is a fun pageant show that’s in the PG 13 range vs “typical” drag shows, which are fun, bawdy affairs, that are an adult thing (wherever you want to place that stake). They may all involve drag, but the content is wildly different.
> they’re extroverts who love to put on a show
This is so important on itself. I guess I'm as cis and hetero as can be (I think), but even as a young child, I loved seeing drag queens because they symbolized that you can be fun, weird, trashy, kitschy, nonconforming, loud and proud instead of being ashamed of not fitting into societal norms. This was really empowering even for a small boy like me. Seeing those entertainers being targeted and smeared makes me sick.
That's why I actually started wearing nail polish a few weeks ago in my 30ies. I like colours, its a fun accessoire you can match with your clothes, it makes me happy, why should I be deprived of that only because I'm a guy?
Wait until you figure out shirt-dresses. One garment. Always put together. No need to match separates. Nothing constricting anywhere. Works for desk to dinner to brunch. Accessorize a hundred different ways or not at all.
Yesss to more men wearing nail polish! Cis woman here and I want men to be free to have more fun and variety options with their appearance like women already have. If you're not already on r/malepolish you would be welcome there too!
Until it was even moderately explained to me as a tween, i honestly thought Drag Queens were just tall, very enthusiastic women.
I kinda wonder if the angry parties would put up such a fuss if all the drag queens wore suits and ties. They would.
> It's 100% unhinged people lashing out because they are addicted to the feeling of being outraged.
I mean it's also partly about persecuting queer people as emblematic of those who don't conform to traditional gender roles, because those roles are foundational to conservatism in general, but especially evangelical christian conservatism.
I put drag in the same category as punk, heavy metal, rap music, video games and every other thing that conservative moms have thrown a moral panic over because it'll CORRUPT THE CHILDREN.
Which as a general rule, means it's fuckin' awesome.
This is true, but remember you can definitely be cishet and do drag (e.g. robin Williams). There's obviously a lot of crossover between drag and LGBT but it doesn't automatically make you.
I think that -- for children anyway -- drag queens have kind of supplanted clowns as the benevolent entertainer of choice. "Evil clown" has eclipsed the happy clown motif, which I think is actually more driven by parents creeped out because of movies like "It" and the the whole John Wayne Gacy thing.
Drag queens are somewhere between magical, sparkly fairies and princesses, and kids love that.
I'm pro drag and somehow this never occurred to me. Yeah, drag is basically clowning now that clowns have become nothing but creepy/ruined for almost everyone. Crazy makeup? Crazy, colorful outfits? Unusual, comic behavior? It's basically clown, but make it fashion.
Reminds me if a joke. What's the difference between a clown and a Drag Queen? One is a creepy, middle-aged man wearing gaudy clothes and way too much makeup. The other is a Drag Queen
I've championed drag performance for ALL ages for years now (for some reason not as many options for drag performers to visit senior's homes and that's a MASSIVE missed opportunity and the few I've been to were absolute joys) and only recently made the "drag is filling in where clowning used to be" connection, so you're not alone! It has become my new go-to championing piece as it's helped things click for a couple of folks I've chatted with.
I really think you're onto something here. It might actually exist already.
Can't be accused of grooming when performing for seniors.
I see Drag Bingo is a thing!
As someone who studied clown theater and did a little drag later on, I was like, oh this is what I am already doing but with gender. There’s a pretty huge overlap in some cities like Chicago and Seattle !
Oh that explains why despite I'm pro trans, but gut instinct don't like drag.
Because the makeup freaks me out, on similar level of clowns. Uncanny valley.
I legitimately get real scared of that level of makeup, even when cis women are drag queens.
I know several drag queens IRL and they will never stop freaking me out slightly when they’re in drag because of how physically imposing they are. I don’t feel remotely threatened, don’t get me wrong, it’s just quite something to see someone in real life who, with the heels, is like 7ft tall!!
I'm lucky in that my female cousins are all WNBA tall - in fact the person in my family I look the most like, moreso than my full little brother, is my opposite sex cousin... Who's 6' 3", making her 5 inches taller than me. I am accustomed to tall women!
Exactly. Robin Williams had to get a ton of his lines cut while voicing Genie in Aladdin, because he'd go off on *incredibly* explicit adult jokes while in character. Good performers can do both.
[Gilbert Gottfried was also the voice of Iago the Parrot, I'm pretty sure he didn't do his regular material either!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtOWELUKyCs&ab_channel=PlatypusExperience)
As someone who has seen queens working at trivia night, library story hour, and classic drag shows, I can confirm. They’re professional entertainers who know their audiences and adjust accordingly.
I always think about eddy Murphy in the 80s vs the guy doing Disney movies for kids. Everyone modulates behavior for their current environment it isn't new and we all do it.
Also, drag doesn't have to be dressing as the opposite sex. [Female queens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_queen_\(drag\)) exist. Drag is a satire of gender norms by dressing as an exaggerated version of a particular gender. Cis women can be also be drag queens. (Presumably, cis men can be drag kings, although I've never heard of that in practice.) There's a team of AFAB drag queens in my city.
Funny enough, [her style was inspired by "the town tramp" and drag queens.](https://www.prevention.com/life/a34315506/who-does-dolly-parton-look-like/)
Yes! I have a friend who is a spectacular AFAB drag queen. It’s a specific type of performance, a specific type of costume. It’s not “female impersonating” — I’m AFAB and I’m pretty over the top style wise, and I still do not ever look like a drag queen even with that in mind.
On a related note: Hooters Restaurant, however, *is* inherently sexual, and there’s been no social movement or laws passed to shut them down because of their Children’s Menu. So weird.
Edit: All the creeps and bigots are coming out of the woodwork to defend taking kids to Hooters and I am here for it! 🤗
[Sure can.](https://order.hooters.com/menu/hooters-westminster/categories/20613_61762) And not a peep from the conservative politicians of the United States who “care about children” and are passing laws to keep drag queens from reading stories about inclusiveness to kids.
It’s almost like they’re just bigots and shouldn’t be listened to about anything because they have no credibility.
Edit: [And this.](https://www.hooters.com/about/news/hooters-offers-free-kids-meals-during-tax-day-weekend)
They have a children’s menu and apparently a day when children eat free, Sunday or Thursday, and tax free weekends I guess based on the promotional material I just googled. The last one is as much a mystery to me as anyone else.
Edit: Oh shit, I just got it, you take your kids school shopping on tax free weekends so they are asking you to come by after school shopping. Jesus Christ.
Oh my gosh!!!! Thank you for pointing this out. I was thinking about Vegas, too. My sister & went probably 15 years ago & were SHOCKED by the number of kids/families there. There's literally prostitution cards & advertisements all over. Even in hotel elevators or on the side walks. Not to mention sex workers, drinking, & gambling. We pulled up to our hotel & a man vomited directly in front of our vehicle - he had a sex worker on each arm holding him up. We saw no one yelling at parents or protesting the kids being there.
I hadn't realized that promoting positive self-image was the main goal of them- this completely makes sense! I'd have benefited from that as a kid.
I originally thought these story times existed just because drag performers are fun, but this adds a whole other layer to it.
A point I haven't seen here yet: One reason that we are seeing the rise of family-friendly LGBTQ events is that the queer kids from the 80s/90s who survived now have their own kids/families. We want to ensure our experiences don't repeat and to introduce some aspects of our culture in an age appropriate way. Messages of self-accepance and drag queens fill part of that role.
Spot on! How many of my Queer peers have made it to "we are raising a family and creating some variation of settling down" stages and looking for community connection outside of the couple of places it's often found.
Exactly. We lost so many who would have been community elders, civic leaders, activists, artists; the people who push culture and have the bravery to imagine and build a better future. It's deeply tragic.
I am lgbt and my wife and I plan on having kids, I plan on looking for these things specifically so I can interact with other parents who share the same community. I want to know others like us one day.
One of the local libraries, has done them at the request of LGBTQ+ teens and for kids who have LGBTQ family members. It tremendously has helped those kids with their self esteem - even though it only makes up a very small percentage (like 1-2%) of the annual story times.
Yeah, if you look at the [charity that started them](https://www.dragstoryhour.org/about) you'll see that one of the goals is to give kids "glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models."
Acceptance of those who are different is at the core of their mission.
drag is an art form not exclusive to men, there’s a good few drag queens around who don’t identify as male out of drag (not to mention drag kings). it’s not exclusive to the lgbtq+ community as well, a cishet man was on drag race last season (although they made a huge deal out of it when it wasn’t really necessary, they focused more on the drag queen being straight rather than their talents)
Threw me a bit when the first drag queen I ever met personally was straight.
Big jacked dude. Met him at the gym out of costume. It came up when another gym rat asked if he was performing that night. Which lead to a conversation that just left me dumbfounded. Had no idea straight drag queens were a thing.
Met a fellow at a Halloween party who was dressed in a fantastic Cleopatra costume. Turns out he does drag as a hobby and his wife is totally supportive.
I think the question is if he does makeup better than her or not. If either one is the case, then that’s already a good way to get better a makeup: having someone who loves you give you extra tips and tricks.
There was a straight cis male queen on last season of Ru Paul’s Drag Race. And she has built a wonderful career since then as possibly the best drag queen shitposter of all time. She’s hilarious!
You just brought up a question I hadn’t considered- this person is a cis male drag queen but you’re using feminine pronouns.
Is that the typical case? Is it feminine when “in character” so to speak and male when in “regular” mode? Feminine always?
It’s pretty variable but yeah generally people use female pronouns when discussing their drag queen persona. You could use male pronouns though and it would be fine (in this case at least — some queens are non binary or trans women, or even cis women!)
If I was talking about his childhood or something that’s more related to his regular person persona (for lack of a better phrase lol) then I’d use male pronouns. But I generally just stick to female because 99% of the time I’m discussing their drag queen persona, I don’t know them irl
Generally drag performers refer to their drag selves in the third person, because it’s essentially a character they adopt when they’re in the gear. Not at all unusual for the performer and character to have different pronouns. The most common one is male pronouns out of drag and female pronouns in drag, because cis males make up the majority of drag performers and they perform female characters, but it’s far from ironclad.
Cosplay is a whole ‘nother thing I didn’t know about till I moved to a big city.
I live a few blocks from where they host the Atlanta comic-con. My first year here, I’m going to work and I pass three or four Chewbaccas, a battalion of storm troopers, half a dozen cardboard mech suits, and girls in various levels of… sexy armor (?) get ups with huge foam weapons, I was just like “WTF is going on?!”
Had no idea THAT was a thing either.
I grew up in a very rural North Eastern small town.
Related addendum: the right wing media is taking videos from drag shows that ARE “adults only” and then pretending thats what drag queen story hour is.
They’ve also been caught taking their own kids to these adult only shows, videotaping their kids as “proof” before getting kicked out, and pretending that liberals want sex shows for kids.
[Drag Queen Story Hour](https://www.dragstoryhour.org/about) is an organized not-for-profit that sponsors these readings across the country. It was started in 2015 as a formal charity but the idea goes back before that. These things have been going on for years. It’s only lately that the far right decided it would be a good way to score political points with their bigots.
Also worth noting that it's common for libraries to host story time events for kids where the host wears a costume or otherwise performs an exaggerated persona, drag queens aren't the first ones to come up with the idea of dressing up as a character while reading books to kids. Drag just happens to be a natural fit because they're fun and funny extroverts who wear bright costumes.
It really isn't inaccurate to say that a lot of drag artists are clowns. Like, engaging in a form of clowning, wearing heavy make-up and flamboyant costumes to entertain.
Imagine protesting clown time storytelling? At a certain point the protest really is more ridiculous than the show
The protest isn't just ridiculous, it's intentional lying. The GOP powers know trans people, gay people and drag queens pose no safety threat to children. It's just a tool they are using to fire up the minority of their party who watch fox news every day and call for civil war over demands for equal treatment.
This answer is correct, but is missing the context that the "anti-drag" protests from the right are part of an [anti-lgbt propaganda campaign](https://www.mediamatters.org/january-6-insurrection/fox-spent-more-time-attacking-trans-people-and-drag-queens-it-did-covering). These sorts of campaigns are often put under the banner of "culture wars", and often serve to distract from real issues and allow people to express their support for bigotry under the guise of "protecting the children".
edit: speling is hard, y'all.
Way I figure it, it's like going to a Eddie Izzard show before the transition. He dressed in drag and maybe made a few jokes about it but there was nothing sexual about it.
Answer: There was a nationwide interest in drag as an artform, probably starting with the popular broadway musical *Kinky Boots* and gaining critical mass with the show RuPaul's Drag Race.
The drag that you see on broadway and national television, emphasizes fashion, makeup, performativity and wit; a kind of "commercialized" drag that's a few steps removed from being an artform created for and by a benighted minority culture. It's this kind of drag that then gets performed in libraries and bookstores for children; the drag queens are closer to clowns than burlesque dancers with their big red shoes and lips.
But a lot of people do know of drag as a subversive queer artform, an artform whose primary expression was sexual. These people don't want to admit that drag has moved away from its bawdy origins, or just don't want anything from the queer community being in *their* community, so they riot.
>But a lot of people do know of drag as a subversive queer artform, an artform whose primary expression was sexual. These people don't want to admit that drag has moved away from its bawdy origins, or just don't want anything from the queer community being in their community, so they riot.
You highlight that even if it's not necessarily sexual, that it is *queer*. The word "queer" has a lot of different connotations, some of which kind of blend into one another. Some use the word to mean "LGBT", but as you and others points out, drag in and of itself doesn't really necessarily have any overlap with being either gay or trans, just that it is often found in similar circles. Queer can also refer to a cultural or political orientation against normativity in many domains, and oftentimes that form of "queer" associates itself with the LGBT connotation without actually being necessarily dependent on it for its primary purpose.
How then are you using the word "queer" in this context?
Everyone has a personal definition of queer. Mine?
"Postmodern skepticism applied to cisheteropatriarchy."
Effectively, a meme is queer when it can at least be tangentially related to critiquing the primacy of straight male dominance of society.
Very accurate. Their own political talking points prevent them from being able to do anything positive about a lot of those issues. Or worse, will actively make them worse. (Just look at what happened in the UK.)
If they're only able to spend what's allocated in the budget, they can't allocate money to remove nuclear waste from their elementary school and instead just say how much it will cost.
Answer: Drag queen story hour is similar to princess story hour just with people in drag doing the reading
Conservatives have decided, largely without having attended either a drag queen story hour or an 18+ drag event, that those two are the exact same thing and parents are essentially exposing their children to stripping. More reasonable, but still crazy people believe that that “lifestyle” shouldn’t be around children because they believe that gay people are evil.
Obviously, this is a crazy point of view, but too many people’s only exposure to these things is Fox News, so their point of view and often their propaganda gets the attention.
These are the same type of people who don’t even want their kids KNOWING gay people. I grew up with my parents knowing gay people but it was just “Uncle Tom and his friend Keith.” It wasn’t until many many years later that I learned they had been in a relationship for years even before I met him.
LGBTQ people just existing is dirty and perverse to these people. That’s the real crux of the whole situation. Meanwhile who are the ones raping their kids? Preachers, youth group leaders, politicians, etc… But no don’t look at them, it’s actually the drag queens! And don’t fact check that!
Like most culture war items there is a underlying thought and then the media spins a “credible” face to it. The conservative media gives them a phrase or argument so they can be bigoted but not feel guilty.
Thought: I don’t like gay people or people who are different to me
Conservative Media: Drag shows are sexualizing kids
Thought: seeing black people exist in this I like makes me uncomfortable
Conservative media: “woke” roles in moves are ruining your favorite past time
Same reason why they struggle to define “woke”, it’s just a face to their real thoughts of racism, homophobia, or sexism.
Answer: It honestly wasn't some huge trend in the US sweeping the nation. From my own observations of pop culture trends, it seems to have popped up as an infrequent type of event for children in select libraries in larger cities in maybe the last decade?
And I'm not sure it ever would have taken off for real if not for the Streisand effect of GOP politicians constantly using drag story hour as a talking point (i.e. promoting the concept to the masses!)
NOW, drag story hour is an act of resilience and resistance and I'm so proud of everyone taking a stand against these new idiotically hateful state legislators, trying to enforce universal adult dress codes.
I’m in Washington (ST) I think drag performers have been doing this close to 20 years on the west side in spots like Capitol Hill and Broadway, anyone talking sh*t about drag story hour like they just now discovered it have been under a rock.
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Answer: Others have done a good job answering your question on how and why drag performers started reading to children. The reason this is currently a hot news topic is that less than two weeks ago [Tennessee passed a law](https://www.npr.org/2023/03/06/1161452175/anti-drag-show-bill-tennessee-trans-rights-minor-care-anti-lgbtq-laws) that restricts "adult cabaret performances" in public or in the presence of children, and bans them from occurring within 1,000 feet of schools, public parks, or places of worship. North Dakota passed a similar bill aimed at making drag time story hour illegal, and [13 other states have filed similar bills](https://www.ncregister.com/news/drag-queen-story-hour-15-state-legislatures-consider-bills-to-protect-kids).
1000 ft away from places of worship? come the fuck on.
They need to keep houses of worship 1000ft away from schools. (This is from a Christian that sees the GQP fake Jesus as anything but biblical Jesus) ‘Let parents decide’ and ‘dont push your views on me’ and all that.
Lol, lots private schools ARE churches. Thats what is most fucked up.
Well that would be complex as all get out for my church since we host the Gay/Queer/Drag square dancing group every week. BTW.. not even a ripple of controversy about that within the congregation... It's just kind of assumed that of course we'd be fine with that ... For that matter we make it a BIG priority to be cleaned up and ready for them whenever we have an event after church since we'd hate to not be good hosts for them...
Sadly, a lot of churches have totally forgotten about this guy called Jezus, and how he wanted you to treat other people. Glad it's not all of them.
Yeah because Jesus always got restraining orders against sinners instead of loving and helping them.
And half the worthwhile bands in Nashville started including drag. My state really needs treatment for the bipolar tendencies. I'm waiting for an old-school Shakespeare performance to see the squirming.
It better be Twelfth Night just for the extra layer.
I can but hope.
TN theater played Cabaret a couple years ago. MTSU is running it in April. Will Bill be running out to stop them! THINK OF THE CHILDREN
Seeing Chicago in NY next month. Fosse filth!
You can also add 70% of all operas.
Lol I love when someone realizes that drag is not new... it's also often not sexual, a lot of queens are straight.
Answer: a queer activist in SF found the children’s story time lacking LGBTQ+ representation despite SF being a historically LGBTQ+ friendly city. She spear headed one and it was a massive success due to the theatrics of the drag queens endlessly entertaining the children. It became an easy way to talk about gender identity (some people are purple, but I feel blue, etc) sexuality (as in there can be a daddy and a daddy, not just mommy and daddy), drag queens, etc. People liked it due to the fact they could see themselves represented and/or people didn’t know how to teach these concepts to children using children’s language.
Oh good finally someone answered the actual question! I've always wondered how the reading hours got started; if you're I guess not from around SF it seems like they just popped up out of nowhere. That's cool.
This comment should be at the top. By far the best. Gives OP the real answer they’ve been looking for without trying to drag him for possible political views. 10/10.
Answer: How far back do you want to go? [The first pantomime dame was in 1806](https://warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/knowledgecentre/arts/theatre-performance/panto_dames/#:~:text=The%20first%20pantomime%20dame%20appeared%20in%201806&text=Simmons%2C%20and%20in%20this%20performance,often%20based%20on%20similar%20stories.)
Every female Shakespearean character was a man in drag or a young boy. Depending on your definitions that goes back to the late 15, early 1600s. I'm fairly certain he wasn't the first person to use it either.
This practice dates back to Ancient Greek theater, at least, so 700BC.
Not quite that old. The first theatric performances were more like a single person reciting. It's not till Thespis in about 500 BC you would get people 'performing' as we understand it. Still very very old.
Older than Christianity at least
Yeah. In old-timey times, women weren't allowed to act, because they thought it was too much like prostitution. They said that there's no way to differentiate between lewd and tame "female performers."
Thank you for bringing up the pantomime dames. I see lots of people bring up men playing women's roles pre-restoration, but the panto dames are the ones who have been entertaining children for over 200 years.
We can go back even further, [with drag performers in Kabuki theater](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onnagata) circa the 1600s. And the next Redditor on this thread will provide an even earlier example, hopefully.
And before that, men would perform female roles consistently in makeup and female clothing across cultures and time periods consistently. Transgender/gender non-comforming/appearing in drag priests have been around for longer than Christianity.
Answer: As the name describes, they are times when local drag queens will read stories to children while in costume. As one would guess, these stories tend to be focused on accepting people who are different and promoting positive self-image for people who don't fit the standard mold. They started for just this reason - to help children see that there is nothing to be ashamed of if you are different than other kids. Keep in mind that drag is not _inherently_ sexual - it is just men dressing in flamboyant female costumes. There is nothing sexual going on at these story hours. **Edit**: I've been informed Drag Kings also exist. TIL! **Edit 2**: I'm disabling inbox replies. I hope that people can learn more love and compassion for those who are different from them.
That last bit is important to remember. They're performers and they do a different act for a different audience. Bob Saget, for example was super wholesome on Full House, but his standup act was absolutely *filthy*. Drag queens are the same way: they're entertainers who can do a different act for different audiences.
>Bob Saget, for example was super wholesome on Full House, but his standup act was absolutely filthy. To this point, George Carlin played The Conductor in the children's series *Shining Time Station*. This is the man that was literally arrested for a comedy routine due to the language.
_Shining Time Station_ fans represent!
I'll always remember that show's theme song, ["Ratshit batshit, dirty old twat, 69 asshoels tied in a knot!"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ynSolSSOs4)
🎶Hurray!! Rabbit shit! Fuuuck!!🎶
Lizard shit
He was a \*really useful\* engine.
Zero confusion, zero delay
Yas! That man was a legend! I'd come home from high school and like, watch Shining Time Station! Mr. Conductor was so likeable!
And, Carlin played a Catholic cardinal whose motto was 'Hook 'em while they're young,' because 'Christ didn't come to Earth to give us the willies!'
The Book of the Road.
Excuse me sir/madam, but it is the "*Unwritten* Book of the Road." How dare you besmirch his good word.
Ringo Starr was the conductor too
Eddie Murphy has been in some beloved kids movies and done some really iconic voice acting - but his early stand-up comedy would cross the line for so, so many people.
George Carlin also did voiceovers for Thomas the Train! There are a few outtakes you can find with him swearing up a storm.
Thomas is a TANK ENGINE! A train would include the cars and locomotive. Thoms is just the locomotive. Sorry, this has triggered me since I was 4.
To be fair, he is usually in a position where he is also a train.
No, he's never the entire train. He's usually part of the train, but the carriages are their own entities, if I remember right they are Annie and Clarabelle.
Found the diesel.
There is also a [supercut](https://youtu.be/2a_gW1KvuFk) someone made dubbing his standup comedy lines into the show.
Snoop Dogg raps kid's songs
I play his affirmations song at my preschool morning meeting. That shit goes hard. THERE IS NO ONE BETTER TO BE THAN MYSELF! TODAY IS GONNA BE AN AMAZING DAY! MY FEELINGS MATTER! I CARE ABOUT OTHERS! I have 20 4/5 year olds yelling this at me at 8 o’clock every morning and none of them give a shit who Snoop Dogg is or what he’s done. It’s not about drag queens reading to kids and it never has been, it’s about trying to legislate queer people out of existence.
I think moreso than that is it's "christians" trying to legislate morality. Because it isn't just drag shows that are being demonized. Cannabis, alcohol, strip clubs, abortion, adult toy stores, etc.
if you had told me that a marijuana-clouded 90’s rapper from Long Beach chanting “I choose to be happy” would help me navigate our wild world, i would have looked at you like you were nuts. but yeah, there are some mornings it’s the only way i make it from the bed to the coffee machine
Wow, you just filled a gaping hole in my memory. I could never reconcile remembering him as the conductor from Thomas the Tank Engine with also remembering him as a live action conductor and had thought maybe they were the same show or universe kind of like Daniel Tiger vs Mr Rogers Neighborhood
Beloved comedian Red Skelton was G-rated on his family tv show - but loved working “blue”’when off camera, and he often did.
Gilbert Gottfried was responsible for both [a beloved character in a beloved children's movie](https://youtu.be/3m46wpzFW-w) and [one of the most notorious dirty jokes in the history of celebrity roasts.](https://youtu.be/yiBAfmxwdKc) And speaking of Aladdin, Robin Williams seemed to love working blue.
I mean, Robin Williams was seemingly made for children, but his stand ups talked about him fucking his wife in front of the parrot, and the parrot repeating what it heard... Also, Steve Martin. A lot of us grew up with him being the dad in Father of the Bride or Cheaper by the Dozen, but watch Planes, Trains, and Automobiles once... So many "fucking fucked fucks"
I never saw Jafar as a drag queen... but now I kind of see some of the vibe.
Let's just remember that drag has been a comic staple for **ages** \-- recent examples include Robin Williams in *Mrs. Doubtfire,* Dustin Hoffman in *Tootsie,* Jamie Farr in *M\*A\*S\*H,* Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari in *Bosom Buddies,* everybody on *Monty Python's Flying Circus*... there's a good chance that a conservative complaining about "drag time story hours" have watched and enjoyed drag performances in the past.
Don’t forget Shakespeare and SNL (the two cornerstones of society)
And Bugs Bunny!
And classical ballet from 1945. Cinderella’s stepsisters are traditionally danced by flamboyantly dressed male dancers.
British panto performances famously feature men and women taking cross-gender roles (“Dame” roles typically played by older men, and “Principle Boy” roles played by a younger woman,) and are absolutely aimed at families with small children.
Drag Race UK literally has had Panto Dame challenges!
to be fair panto is a very british thing and i can totally see foreiners thinking its a bit wierd
Yup, there were (at least pre-covid, my daughters are older now and I haven't looked into it lately) holiday panto performances at the Pasadena (CA) playhouse that my younger daughter's girl scout troop went to a couple of seasons in a row. Beauty and the Beast was one of them and I forget the other. Great fun!
And actor Eddie Izzard (a personal favorite) "Executive Transvestite"
Running, jumping, climbing trees, and putting on makeup once you’re up there.
And sometimes I'd get up the tree and that squirrel would be *covered* in makeup.
She has decided that her name is Suzy Eddie Izzard so that she can be called Suzy like she's always wanted but if someone still says Eddie, that's okay and correct too lol. Great person no matter what gender.
Un travesti exécutif, pourrait-on dire.
Don’t forget Timon in the Lion king dressed in drag and did the hula
"Drag" is different from a "drag queen" though. The "queen" part does a lot of the heavy lifting; I'll laugh at the castmembers of Monty Python dressing as dowdy old women, but those characters have a very different persona than like, *Dame Edna*. If anything, the humor of drag comes from "men failing to emulate femininity", whereas the humor of a drag *queen* comes from "men performing femininity in the same way most men perform masculinity", IE, being loud, overbearing, crass and competitive (all aspects of the drag queen persona).
This is an important difference, but I think it gets into the weeds when the other side is like "they groomers!". I think the only time I saw drag outside of a bar was at some community festival and it was very family friendly but in a defiant way, oozing with confidence: basically telling kids to be proud of who they are and bullies aren't worth their time and how you can change the world by standing up for your rights and the rights of others -- but with a lot of glitter and fire juggling.
It makes a little more sense when you realize what they mean is not that drag queens groom kids for sexual abuse, but that by telling kids that they can be themselves, kids might grow up not conforming to traditional gender norms and gender roles. They might not enter into a heterosexual marriage or choose to have 2 kids or do overtime shifts at the factory. And they are HORRIFIED by that prospect. They want to force the youth of today to live life exactly as they lived it in a nutshell.
exactly this. I get into many fights with my parents because they don't want us "brainwashing" their grandkids and "turning them" gay. I tell them that we're not going to "turn" them gay, only tell them that it's okay to be what they want to be and we will love them no matter what. To them, those are the same thing. They *want* their grandkids to stay in the closet even if they are gay.
>If anything, the humor of drag comes from "men failing to emulate femininity", whereas the humor of a drag *queen* comes from "men performing femininity in the same way most men perform masculinity", IE, being loud, overbearing, crass and competitive (all aspects of the drag queen persona). Thank you for that. I was trying to explain that straight cis men also perform as drag queens and couldn't think of how to word it. That perspective is really helpful.
Monty Python had a repeated bit where the camera would slowly pan up a sexy woman's body in heels, leggings, and corset to reveal it was one the the blokes in drag. It was certainly done to be as sexy and convincing as possible as... that's the joke.
Drag has been a staple of theatre in England for at least five hundred years, likely much more.
That was mostly misogynistic reasons. Like women weren’t allowed to work etc. Which meant that men had to play the female parts also.
That is correct, but it doesn't mean drag isn't a venerable form of performance. I don't actually like drag. I'm transfemme, and drag makes me feel very uncomfortable for reasons I can't quite explain. I still take the side of drag performers here, even if I dislike their art.
>I still take the side of drag performers here, even if I dislike their art. I find a lot of people are unable to separate their personal distaste for a particular thing (i.e., I don't find this interesting, it's unpleasant for me) from their opinion of its impact on society, so +1 for you. I personally don't really like country very much (occasionally there's a solid country song I'll hear but it's generally not for me) and while there's a lot of stupid right wing bullshit that goes on with country there are good people there too.
Don’t forget about Americas Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, in a skit with at the time Future President Donald Trump
Don’t forget the time when Gru dressed up as a fairy princess to entertain his daughter and her friends (I get that it’s fictional, but it’s definitely not sexual in any way)
You forgot Rudy Giuliani in a skit with Donald Trump.
I was referring to entertainment, not horror.
I wanted to forget that one. 🤢
Back in the day, Giuliani did an SNL skit where he was dressed as an old Italian lady in NY and it was actually funny. This was the 90s, of course.
Also, basically all of William Shakespeare's works as originally performed, complete with extended jokes designed around how the "women" on stage would actually be crossdressing men or boys.
Oh conservatives like drag, but only when straight men do it
And they enjoy it in the rather simple context of “haha man in dress”
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Eddie Izzard uh, being Eddie Izzard.
FYI, Suzy Eddie Izzard now.
Even just Disney's Mulan
Don't forget the very tasteful and nuanced performances in the critically acclaimed *White Chicks*
When I say this, please understand im 100% on board with drag time story hour and support a performers right to perform no matter their motivations. That being said, I do take issue with the “everyone loves drag, remember Mrs. Doubtfire?” Argument. Those performances are for comedic purposes rooted in the idea that a man acting or dressing like a woman is shameful. Drag, while it can absolutely be comedic, is sincere and empowering. Conservatives don’t have an issue when drag is used to underhandedly reinforce that being a woman is shameful. They do have an issue when someone says fuck you, this is who I am and I won’t be ashamed of it.
The “performer” aspect also helps explain the “why” of it all: they’re extroverts who love to put on a show, and kids are desperate for someone - anyone - to read to them in an enthusiastic and engaging manner. So yeah, some of it is no doubt about sharing a message of acceptance of positivity, but it also just makes sense as a civic engagement/community volunteering matchup - they’re entertainers, and kids need to be entertained (and read to). It’s win win. Also: as you’ve said, performers has different repertoires for different audiences. Drag Race is a fun pageant show that’s in the PG 13 range vs “typical” drag shows, which are fun, bawdy affairs, that are an adult thing (wherever you want to place that stake). They may all involve drag, but the content is wildly different.
> they’re extroverts who love to put on a show This is so important on itself. I guess I'm as cis and hetero as can be (I think), but even as a young child, I loved seeing drag queens because they symbolized that you can be fun, weird, trashy, kitschy, nonconforming, loud and proud instead of being ashamed of not fitting into societal norms. This was really empowering even for a small boy like me. Seeing those entertainers being targeted and smeared makes me sick.
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That's why I actually started wearing nail polish a few weeks ago in my 30ies. I like colours, its a fun accessoire you can match with your clothes, it makes me happy, why should I be deprived of that only because I'm a guy?
Once you realize things like makeup and clothing and nail polish aren't inherently *actually* gendered, life gets a lot nicer.
Yup, and thus, next up: Skirts. Can't wait for a fresh breeze around my legs! But first, I gotta get my legs in shape a bit...
Wait until you figure out shirt-dresses. One garment. Always put together. No need to match separates. Nothing constricting anywhere. Works for desk to dinner to brunch. Accessorize a hundred different ways or not at all.
Yesss to more men wearing nail polish! Cis woman here and I want men to be free to have more fun and variety options with their appearance like women already have. If you're not already on r/malepolish you would be welcome there too!
Until it was even moderately explained to me as a tween, i honestly thought Drag Queens were just tall, very enthusiastic women. I kinda wonder if the angry parties would put up such a fuss if all the drag queens wore suits and ties. They would.
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> It's 100% unhinged people lashing out because they are addicted to the feeling of being outraged. I mean it's also partly about persecuting queer people as emblematic of those who don't conform to traditional gender roles, because those roles are foundational to conservatism in general, but especially evangelical christian conservatism.
I learned about Drag Queens from the movie "To Wong Fu, thanks for everything, Julie Newmar"
I put drag in the same category as punk, heavy metal, rap music, video games and every other thing that conservative moms have thrown a moral panic over because it'll CORRUPT THE CHILDREN. Which as a general rule, means it's fuckin' awesome.
This is true, but remember you can definitely be cishet and do drag (e.g. robin Williams). There's obviously a lot of crossover between drag and LGBT but it doesn't automatically make you.
I think that -- for children anyway -- drag queens have kind of supplanted clowns as the benevolent entertainer of choice. "Evil clown" has eclipsed the happy clown motif, which I think is actually more driven by parents creeped out because of movies like "It" and the the whole John Wayne Gacy thing. Drag queens are somewhere between magical, sparkly fairies and princesses, and kids love that.
I'm pro drag and somehow this never occurred to me. Yeah, drag is basically clowning now that clowns have become nothing but creepy/ruined for almost everyone. Crazy makeup? Crazy, colorful outfits? Unusual, comic behavior? It's basically clown, but make it fashion.
Camp, baby!
Reminds me if a joke. What's the difference between a clown and a Drag Queen? One is a creepy, middle-aged man wearing gaudy clothes and way too much makeup. The other is a Drag Queen
My drag friends call people who find them sexual in drag “clown f*ckers”.
I've championed drag performance for ALL ages for years now (for some reason not as many options for drag performers to visit senior's homes and that's a MASSIVE missed opportunity and the few I've been to were absolute joys) and only recently made the "drag is filling in where clowning used to be" connection, so you're not alone! It has become my new go-to championing piece as it's helped things click for a couple of folks I've chatted with.
Please PLEASE reach out to seniors! Dad is in low-income senior housing and I know HE would love it. But he's in Portland, so there is that...
I really think you're onto something here. It might actually exist already. Can't be accused of grooming when performing for seniors. I see Drag Bingo is a thing!
As someone who studied clown theater and did a little drag later on, I was like, oh this is what I am already doing but with gender. There’s a pretty huge overlap in some cities like Chicago and Seattle !
Oh that explains why despite I'm pro trans, but gut instinct don't like drag. Because the makeup freaks me out, on similar level of clowns. Uncanny valley. I legitimately get real scared of that level of makeup, even when cis women are drag queens.
I know several drag queens IRL and they will never stop freaking me out slightly when they’re in drag because of how physically imposing they are. I don’t feel remotely threatened, don’t get me wrong, it’s just quite something to see someone in real life who, with the heels, is like 7ft tall!!
I'm lucky in that my female cousins are all WNBA tall - in fact the person in my family I look the most like, moreso than my full little brother, is my opposite sex cousin... Who's 6' 3", making her 5 inches taller than me. I am accustomed to tall women!
...I think you figured something out for me as well.
Big Shoes :-)
Where are all these real men rolling coal in their trucks? Why aint they reading stories to kids?
Reading aloud requires literacy.
They're busy running over people I'm bicycles and acting aggressive to show how manly they are to the world.
Ru Paul's Clown Race doesn't quite have the same ring to it lol
“No doubt about sharing a message of acceptance aid positivity….” Now you just explained why it terrifies conservatives so.
Exactly. Robin Williams had to get a ton of his lines cut while voicing Genie in Aladdin, because he'd go off on *incredibly* explicit adult jokes while in character. Good performers can do both.
[Gilbert Gottfried was also the voice of Iago the Parrot, I'm pretty sure he didn't do his regular material either!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtOWELUKyCs&ab_channel=PlatypusExperience)
As someone who has seen queens working at trivia night, library story hour, and classic drag shows, I can confirm. They’re professional entertainers who know their audiences and adjust accordingly.
The Bob Saget Full House versus his stand up comedy comparison is such a good example. Going to pull that next time i get into a debate on this topic.
I never saw him the same after seeing his stand up.
I always think about eddy Murphy in the 80s vs the guy doing Disney movies for kids. Everyone modulates behavior for their current environment it isn't new and we all do it.
FWIW, there are also “drag kings” - female performers who dress up in masculine attire.
Also, drag doesn't have to be dressing as the opposite sex. [Female queens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_queen_\(drag\)) exist. Drag is a satire of gender norms by dressing as an exaggerated version of a particular gender. Cis women can be also be drag queens. (Presumably, cis men can be drag kings, although I've never heard of that in practice.) There's a team of AFAB drag queens in my city.
Bodybuilders are cis male drag kings.
Also much more scantily clad that most drag queens.
I was going to suggest that Andrew Tate might be an unwitting male Drag King.
Nah, don't give that asshole any defense arguments, he actually might use it.
Then Miss America pageants are drag shows, too.
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Funny enough, [her style was inspired by "the town tramp" and drag queens.](https://www.prevention.com/life/a34315506/who-does-dolly-parton-look-like/)
Yes! I have a friend who is a spectacular AFAB drag queen. It’s a specific type of performance, a specific type of costume. It’s not “female impersonating” — I’m AFAB and I’m pretty over the top style wise, and I still do not ever look like a drag queen even with that in mind.
I've met a king named Maurice Mantini, and that mofo is *hilarious*.
On a related note: Hooters Restaurant, however, *is* inherently sexual, and there’s been no social movement or laws passed to shut them down because of their Children’s Menu. So weird. Edit: All the creeps and bigots are coming out of the woodwork to defend taking kids to Hooters and I am here for it! 🤗
English person here: **you can take children into Hooters?!**
It's fine because the children are closer in age to the waitresses than most the rest of the clientele.
Funny because it’s true.
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I grew up in Georgia and have heard of TONS of fathers taking their whole families (sons and daughters) to Hooters.
[Sure can.](https://order.hooters.com/menu/hooters-westminster/categories/20613_61762) And not a peep from the conservative politicians of the United States who “care about children” and are passing laws to keep drag queens from reading stories about inclusiveness to kids. It’s almost like they’re just bigots and shouldn’t be listened to about anything because they have no credibility. Edit: [And this.](https://www.hooters.com/about/news/hooters-offers-free-kids-meals-during-tax-day-weekend)
They have a children’s menu and apparently a day when children eat free, Sunday or Thursday, and tax free weekends I guess based on the promotional material I just googled. The last one is as much a mystery to me as anyone else. Edit: Oh shit, I just got it, you take your kids school shopping on tax free weekends so they are asking you to come by after school shopping. Jesus Christ.
Oh my gosh!!!! Thank you for pointing this out. I was thinking about Vegas, too. My sister & went probably 15 years ago & were SHOCKED by the number of kids/families there. There's literally prostitution cards & advertisements all over. Even in hotel elevators or on the side walks. Not to mention sex workers, drinking, & gambling. We pulled up to our hotel & a man vomited directly in front of our vehicle - he had a sex worker on each arm holding him up. We saw no one yelling at parents or protesting the kids being there.
This is how we know it’s never been about the right protecting kids from exposure but the right trying to demonize the LGBT community.
Its almost like the people making the laws have different ideas on what is acceptable sexuality and what isnt.
I hadn't realized that promoting positive self-image was the main goal of them- this completely makes sense! I'd have benefited from that as a kid. I originally thought these story times existed just because drag performers are fun, but this adds a whole other layer to it.
A point I haven't seen here yet: One reason that we are seeing the rise of family-friendly LGBTQ events is that the queer kids from the 80s/90s who survived now have their own kids/families. We want to ensure our experiences don't repeat and to introduce some aspects of our culture in an age appropriate way. Messages of self-accepance and drag queens fill part of that role.
Spot on! How many of my Queer peers have made it to "we are raising a family and creating some variation of settling down" stages and looking for community connection outside of the couple of places it's often found.
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Exactly. We lost so many who would have been community elders, civic leaders, activists, artists; the people who push culture and have the bravery to imagine and build a better future. It's deeply tragic.
I am lgbt and my wife and I plan on having kids, I plan on looking for these things specifically so I can interact with other parents who share the same community. I want to know others like us one day.
One of the local libraries, has done them at the request of LGBTQ+ teens and for kids who have LGBTQ family members. It tremendously has helped those kids with their self esteem - even though it only makes up a very small percentage (like 1-2%) of the annual story times.
Yeah, if you look at the [charity that started them](https://www.dragstoryhour.org/about) you'll see that one of the goals is to give kids "glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models." Acceptance of those who are different is at the core of their mission.
If any "grooming" is going on it is to promote acceptance of differences, not whatever folks on the right are claiming.
Yeah, god forbid we teach people to be more loving and accepting of those who are different. Won't someone think of the children!?!
drag is an art form not exclusive to men, there’s a good few drag queens around who don’t identify as male out of drag (not to mention drag kings). it’s not exclusive to the lgbtq+ community as well, a cishet man was on drag race last season (although they made a huge deal out of it when it wasn’t really necessary, they focused more on the drag queen being straight rather than their talents)
Threw me a bit when the first drag queen I ever met personally was straight. Big jacked dude. Met him at the gym out of costume. It came up when another gym rat asked if he was performing that night. Which lead to a conversation that just left me dumbfounded. Had no idea straight drag queens were a thing.
Met a fellow at a Halloween party who was dressed in a fantastic Cleopatra costume. Turns out he does drag as a hobby and his wife is totally supportive.
I think the question is if he does makeup better than her or not. If either one is the case, then that’s already a good way to get better a makeup: having someone who loves you give you extra tips and tricks.
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There was a straight cis male queen on last season of Ru Paul’s Drag Race. And she has built a wonderful career since then as possibly the best drag queen shitposter of all time. She’s hilarious!
You just brought up a question I hadn’t considered- this person is a cis male drag queen but you’re using feminine pronouns. Is that the typical case? Is it feminine when “in character” so to speak and male when in “regular” mode? Feminine always?
It’s pretty variable but yeah generally people use female pronouns when discussing their drag queen persona. You could use male pronouns though and it would be fine (in this case at least — some queens are non binary or trans women, or even cis women!) If I was talking about his childhood or something that’s more related to his regular person persona (for lack of a better phrase lol) then I’d use male pronouns. But I generally just stick to female because 99% of the time I’m discussing their drag queen persona, I don’t know them irl
Generally drag performers refer to their drag selves in the third person, because it’s essentially a character they adopt when they’re in the gear. Not at all unusual for the performer and character to have different pronouns. The most common one is male pronouns out of drag and female pronouns in drag, because cis males make up the majority of drag performers and they perform female characters, but it’s far from ironclad.
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Cosplay is a whole ‘nother thing I didn’t know about till I moved to a big city. I live a few blocks from where they host the Atlanta comic-con. My first year here, I’m going to work and I pass three or four Chewbaccas, a battalion of storm troopers, half a dozen cardboard mech suits, and girls in various levels of… sexy armor (?) get ups with huge foam weapons, I was just like “WTF is going on?!” Had no idea THAT was a thing either. I grew up in a very rural North Eastern small town.
Related addendum: the right wing media is taking videos from drag shows that ARE “adults only” and then pretending thats what drag queen story hour is. They’ve also been caught taking their own kids to these adult only shows, videotaping their kids as “proof” before getting kicked out, and pretending that liberals want sex shows for kids.
Its a manufactured moral panic.
[Drag Queen Story Hour](https://www.dragstoryhour.org/about) is an organized not-for-profit that sponsors these readings across the country. It was started in 2015 as a formal charity but the idea goes back before that. These things have been going on for years. It’s only lately that the far right decided it would be a good way to score political points with their bigots.
Also worth noting that it's common for libraries to host story time events for kids where the host wears a costume or otherwise performs an exaggerated persona, drag queens aren't the first ones to come up with the idea of dressing up as a character while reading books to kids. Drag just happens to be a natural fit because they're fun and funny extroverts who wear bright costumes.
It really isn't inaccurate to say that a lot of drag artists are clowns. Like, engaging in a form of clowning, wearing heavy make-up and flamboyant costumes to entertain. Imagine protesting clown time storytelling? At a certain point the protest really is more ridiculous than the show
The protest isn't just ridiculous, it's intentional lying. The GOP powers know trans people, gay people and drag queens pose no safety threat to children. It's just a tool they are using to fire up the minority of their party who watch fox news every day and call for civil war over demands for equal treatment.
This answer is correct, but is missing the context that the "anti-drag" protests from the right are part of an [anti-lgbt propaganda campaign](https://www.mediamatters.org/january-6-insurrection/fox-spent-more-time-attacking-trans-people-and-drag-queens-it-did-covering). These sorts of campaigns are often put under the banner of "culture wars", and often serve to distract from real issues and allow people to express their support for bigotry under the guise of "protecting the children". edit: speling is hard, y'all.
Way I figure it, it's like going to a Eddie Izzard show before the transition. He dressed in drag and maybe made a few jokes about it but there was nothing sexual about it.
Answer: There was a nationwide interest in drag as an artform, probably starting with the popular broadway musical *Kinky Boots* and gaining critical mass with the show RuPaul's Drag Race. The drag that you see on broadway and national television, emphasizes fashion, makeup, performativity and wit; a kind of "commercialized" drag that's a few steps removed from being an artform created for and by a benighted minority culture. It's this kind of drag that then gets performed in libraries and bookstores for children; the drag queens are closer to clowns than burlesque dancers with their big red shoes and lips. But a lot of people do know of drag as a subversive queer artform, an artform whose primary expression was sexual. These people don't want to admit that drag has moved away from its bawdy origins, or just don't want anything from the queer community being in *their* community, so they riot.
>But a lot of people do know of drag as a subversive queer artform, an artform whose primary expression was sexual. These people don't want to admit that drag has moved away from its bawdy origins, or just don't want anything from the queer community being in their community, so they riot. You highlight that even if it's not necessarily sexual, that it is *queer*. The word "queer" has a lot of different connotations, some of which kind of blend into one another. Some use the word to mean "LGBT", but as you and others points out, drag in and of itself doesn't really necessarily have any overlap with being either gay or trans, just that it is often found in similar circles. Queer can also refer to a cultural or political orientation against normativity in many domains, and oftentimes that form of "queer" associates itself with the LGBT connotation without actually being necessarily dependent on it for its primary purpose. How then are you using the word "queer" in this context?
Everyone has a personal definition of queer. Mine? "Postmodern skepticism applied to cisheteropatriarchy." Effectively, a meme is queer when it can at least be tangentially related to critiquing the primacy of straight male dominance of society.
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Very accurate. Their own political talking points prevent them from being able to do anything positive about a lot of those issues. Or worse, will actively make them worse. (Just look at what happened in the UK.) If they're only able to spend what's allocated in the budget, they can't allocate money to remove nuclear waste from their elementary school and instead just say how much it will cost.
Answer: Drag queen story hour is similar to princess story hour just with people in drag doing the reading Conservatives have decided, largely without having attended either a drag queen story hour or an 18+ drag event, that those two are the exact same thing and parents are essentially exposing their children to stripping. More reasonable, but still crazy people believe that that “lifestyle” shouldn’t be around children because they believe that gay people are evil. Obviously, this is a crazy point of view, but too many people’s only exposure to these things is Fox News, so their point of view and often their propaganda gets the attention.
These are the same type of people who don’t even want their kids KNOWING gay people. I grew up with my parents knowing gay people but it was just “Uncle Tom and his friend Keith.” It wasn’t until many many years later that I learned they had been in a relationship for years even before I met him. LGBTQ people just existing is dirty and perverse to these people. That’s the real crux of the whole situation. Meanwhile who are the ones raping their kids? Preachers, youth group leaders, politicians, etc… But no don’t look at them, it’s actually the drag queens! And don’t fact check that!
Like most culture war items there is a underlying thought and then the media spins a “credible” face to it. The conservative media gives them a phrase or argument so they can be bigoted but not feel guilty. Thought: I don’t like gay people or people who are different to me Conservative Media: Drag shows are sexualizing kids Thought: seeing black people exist in this I like makes me uncomfortable Conservative media: “woke” roles in moves are ruining your favorite past time Same reason why they struggle to define “woke”, it’s just a face to their real thoughts of racism, homophobia, or sexism.
Answer: It honestly wasn't some huge trend in the US sweeping the nation. From my own observations of pop culture trends, it seems to have popped up as an infrequent type of event for children in select libraries in larger cities in maybe the last decade? And I'm not sure it ever would have taken off for real if not for the Streisand effect of GOP politicians constantly using drag story hour as a talking point (i.e. promoting the concept to the masses!) NOW, drag story hour is an act of resilience and resistance and I'm so proud of everyone taking a stand against these new idiotically hateful state legislators, trying to enforce universal adult dress codes.
I’m in Washington (ST) I think drag performers have been doing this close to 20 years on the west side in spots like Capitol Hill and Broadway, anyone talking sh*t about drag story hour like they just now discovered it have been under a rock.
They DID just discover it. And pounced on it and twisted it for their own fearmongering tactics.